Sunday, May 20, 2012

And I can now say with much certainty, that San Francisco is clearly the mac-daddy of all cities.

Our move from Australia back to America was a whirlwind of chaos, and stress, and fun, and rekindlings.

Our repatriation began with a several month long stint in Florida, where I spent my 40th birthday at a restaurant with friends and family, many of whom I hadn't seen since my 35th. And by the way, Buca di Beppo... you make one sweet-ass plate of meatballs. :)

Our now 7 & 8 year old boys, had some quality time with their massive posse of first cousins. I Starbucked with my sister-in-law, Too-Jayed with my in-laws, and LiveLoveYogurted with my mom and our babysitter, who came us from Australia to help push me through the insanity.

We tried to have a little down-time and went on a cruise...

Come on, let's be real, is there ever really down-time with two little "energetic" (that's the nice word for it) boys? "Mommy, mom, mom, mom, Mommy, I need you. Mom, can I show you something? Mommy, do you have treats? Mom, mom, mom, mom, maaaaah-m," What??????? What? What? What? "Oh, I forgot what I wanted to say."

Moving on.

In St. Maarten we visited an awesomely strange museum/shop of sorts called The Yoda Guy. This hidden little, hole-in-the-wall is owned by a British gentleman who designed the character Yoda (as I understand it). And if you buy something, he'll let you walk through his personal collection of movie props and paraphernalia.

This is "The Yoda Guy" and our boys. When we left, there was unanimous agreement that he looked very Yoda-esque, in a dogs-and-their-owners-who-look-alike kind of way :) .

Anyway, about six weeks ago we finally landed in San Francisco, and we are loving it. Based on the places we've lived (and you know there's been a few :) my first impression is that San Francisco has the topography and landscape of Sydney, with the friendliness and swagger of Dallas.

And it is only by chance that my sister, who is an amazing acupuncturist and Dr. of Chinese Medicine, specializing in infertility and pediatrics, is here-- she has been living in San Francisco for about nine years and brought us to San Fran's famous Painted Ladies, which she lives right near. Having my sister here has been the biggest bonus imaginable. :)

And there's more...

We are living on a real, live mountain!!! Okay, okay, there is the distinct possibility, it may-- I mean MAAAY be... a hill. And there are deer in the neighborhood. And there are plum, loquat, lemon, and Fuji apple trees in the backyard of our house. Seriously, we have all of those in our backyard! Not to mention the kiwi and grape vines-- and the tomato plant I bought at Costco that I am clearly incapable of watering properly.

Ruby the Labradoodle, taking a big whiff of cool mountain air, while standing on the astroturf in our backyard with a view of San Francisco Bay in the background. Apparently in Northern California, fake grass is the new black. Incidentally, Ruby is the only family member who, six months after arriving in America, still has her Aussie accent.

Three deer in someone's front yard yesterday.

And after all this traveling and moving and adjusting, I barely want to leave the house these days. I still haven't even seen the Golden Gate Bridge, yes I know, that's crazy. But the good news is, I have left the house to enough to have eaten countless tacos and drank some delicious bubble/ boba tea drinks around town-- I may be feeling tired and lazy, but a girl's got to have her fix.

This new adventure has been more than I could have imagined so far-- and I am considering that I may need to start up the whole blogging thing again... it's been a while but, hot damn, San Francisco has some stories in store for me... I can feel it my bones. Hmmm, or was that a mild earthquake?

One other question...Did you go and watch a screening of funniest home videos while you were still here by any chance?swear i just saw your hubbie and kids in the audience!!!(tho have thought i saw them before and it wasnt them!):)

So glad you are loving being back home!! I've struggled since the day I stepped foot on the plane to come back. I miss Australia terribly.

And funny you don't have an Aussie accent...we've been back about 8 months, and only lived there for 1.5 years and I STILL get told I have an Australian accent on a very regular basis. I suppose that's because I'm in TN where everyone is expected to have a southern accent.

Hello! I just discovered your blog via "The Yellow Brick Road" where you commented on her Dover post. Confusing? I then clicked on your name and read your SF post and a few others.

Anyway! Just wanted to say hello. We used to live in the Bay Area (Pleasanton in fact) and are now living in Austin TX. Even that can be a culture shock. I hope you enjoy SF. Make sure you take a tour of Alcatraz. Very interesting and the boys will like the boat ride.

I'm from Asia and am currently going to school in the US. I might be moving to Sydney in a few years for school so I'll definitely follow your blog and read your previous entries! thanks for creating such a wonderful and beautiful blog. :)

About Me

I'm an American Expat with two adorable boys and a smart, sensible husband who bungee jumped once in the 80's and showed me the video to prove it.
Our family is living in Sydney, Australia for the second time. I currently drive on the left side of the road, wear winter clothes in June, and say "no worries".

Why am I here?

This blog is to chronicle my life abroad as an expat mom with small children.

It's easy to think that moving to Australia would not cause complete culture shock (being that we speak the same language for the most part), but in reality, it's not that simple.

I'm hopeful that at the end of this journey I will refer back to this blog and appreciate everything we've experienced and ultimately survived.

Update June 2014: We have just moved back to Sydney after spending 2.5 years in San Francisco. This is much easier the second time around because my kids already love Vegemite and I speak fluent Aussie.